Vol 97, No 1 (2017)

A new species, Scathophaga yakutica sp. n. (Diptera, Scathophagidae), is described and illustrated based on specimens from Yakutia. Key for the differentiation of the new species from related species is given.

A category scale of the status of Red Data insect species occurring in the territories of Voronezh Biosphere Nature Reservation and appropriate numerical values (from 0 to 4) of the state index (SI) of insect species are developed. This scale is compatible with the rarity categories used in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation (2001) and in the regional Red Data Book of Voronezh Province (2011) and Red Data Book of Lipetsk Province (2014). Based on long-term field data and collection material, the status and SI are characterized for 14 insect species listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation and the regional Red Data books and occurring in the territories of the Nature Reserve (shared between Voronezh and Lipetsk provinces) and Nature Sanctuary within Voronezh Biosphere Reservation. The Red Data species showing a positive difference between the SI value in the territory of the Reserve or Sanctuary and the SI listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation (or a regional Red Data book) are considered to be efficiently protected in the Reserve or Sanctuary, respectively. Six Red Data insect species were found to be efficiently protected in the Nature Reserve, and only four species in the Sanctuary.

Three genera (Erdoesia Bouček, Metastenus Walker, and Novitzkyanus Bouček) and 24 species are recorded for the first time for the fauna of Russia; in addition, 39 species are new for the fauna of Krasnodar Territory. New host–parasite associations are revealed for 6 species of pteromalid wasps.

A new species, Anotylus khachikovi sp. n., is described from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Daghestan, and Turkey. The lectotype is designated, and a redescription of its vicariant species, A. fairmairei (Pandellé 1867), is provided. New data on the distribution of A. fairmairei are presented.

Pseudocleonus (Phryganocleonus) kratkyi sp. n. is described from Afghanistan. Some remarks on the taxonomy of the subgenus Phryganocleonus are given, with a key to the species. Lectotypes of Pseudocleonus guldarensis Arnol’di, Ps. iskanderi Arnol’di, and Ps. tadzhika Arnol’di are designated. Hypotheses on the historical biogeographical events that may have caused species differentiation are proposed.

The muscles of the male genitalia were studied for the first time in two species endemic to the Oriental zoogeographical region, namely Curetis bulis from the subfamily Curetinae (Lycaenidae) and Paralaxita damajanti from the tribe Abisarini (Riodinidae). Both taxa possess a common plan of musculature reflected in the positions of muscles m1, m2(10), m5(7), m7(6), m21, and m28. Two new autapomorphies of Curetis bulis were discovered: the splitting of m4 into two muscles and a shift of the attachment site of one of these muscles onto the dorsal area of the anellus. Apomorphic differences in the position of the genital muscles were found between Paralaxita damajanti and the previously studied Polycaena tamerlana from the family Riodinidae. A new synapomorphy between the latter two species, namely splitting of the aedeagus protractors m6(5), was also found.

In the Karakum Desert (Turkmenistan) the beetles Trigonoscelis gigas are only active in the morning and evening while T. sublaevicollis are strictly nocturnal, regardless of the season and weather. The daily activity rhythm of T. gigas and T. sublaevicollis was studied in the laboratory according to the following pattern: 5 days under a light-darkness cycle of 15: 9 h (LD 15: 9), then 10 days in constant darkness (DD), and then 10 more days under alternating 1-h pulses of light and darkness (LD 1: 1). The temperature was 25°C in all the modes. At LD 15: 9, beetles of both species maintained a 24-h period and a natural pattern of the activity rhythm. In DD, the circadian rhythm ran with a period of 23.5 ± 0.3 h (n = 40) in T. gigas and 23.6 ± 0.4 h (n = 40) in T. sublaevicollis. At DD, the morning and evening activity peaks of T. gigas merged to form a rhythm with only one peak. Under LD 1: 1, both T. gigas and T. sublaevicollis recovered a 24-h period of the rhythm, while the rhythm of T. gigas regained the two-peak structure. Our research confirmed the assumption of Tshernyshev (1980) about the 24-h period of the free-running endogenous rhythm and the distorting effect of constant conditions on this rhythm.